Dan Michalski

About the author: Dan Michalski is a Dallas-based writer who has contributed to D magazine, Texas Monthly, and the London Observer.

Across America, Catholic dioceses are paying millions of dollars to victims of child sexual abuse at the hands of priests. As a result, the Catholic Church must face not only the tarnishing of its reputation because of child sexual abuse but the resulting financial damages as well. Cardinals are forced to lay off church employees, close offices, and shut down schools and seminaries to pay the high price of litigation. In addition to paying the victims of pedophile priests, some dioceses are paying for lawsuits that allege that church officials covered up the criminal acts of abusing priests. Some analysts argue that as...